African publishers database and co-publishing

HUMA-LASPAD Publishing Africa Series  

Speaker: Stephanie Kitchen (International African Institute (IAI), UK)

Introduction: Within the rubric of HUMA’s continent-wide in-depth study into the state of scholarly publishing and dissemination in Africa, I present the International African Institute’s recent intervention to publish a Database of African Publishers, as a freely accessible resource developed in association with the African Books Collective. 

This easily accessible database is aimed as a resource for researchers, authors, as well as publishers of books on African topics and countries who may wish to locate possible co-publishers for their work in the African continent. Part of the impetus for the project was from African publishers themselves who may be seeking to publish relevant work originating elsewhere and improve their visibility, as well as from university presses outside the continent (notably in the US) seeking co-publishing arrangements for their major academic and literary works in African studies, as well as to reorientate their publishing activities towards the continent. 

The database comprises some 200 entries of publishers from all regions of the continent which publish work in English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Swahili and other African languages. It is considered a work in progress as we are aware it is not yet fully comprehensive, e.g. we did not have sufficient resources to develop the Arabic section, and we would be pleased to be alerted to additional publishers for inclusion. Users can sort the database and search by country, Publisher name, language, type of publisher (scholarly/academic/literary), or subject discipline. Full contact details and further information are provided for the publisher where publicly available. Not all publishers are fully active, however.

I will further offer a few reflections on the practice of co-publishing academic work on Africa and in African studies. This is increasingly seen as desirable or even essential for full and ethical dissemination of knowledge largely produced in Africa, and the recent decolonisation movement provides renewed impetus. Whilst there are examples of good practice, some of which now established for several decades, there are ongoing challenges – including resources for co-editions, readership (or ‘markets’) for academic work in specific African countries, the question of digital rights, as well as the movement of printed books in a world constrained by increasing transaction costs and other barriers, and apathy on the side of Northern publishers to disseminate their work to the Global South. 

About the speaker: Stephanie Kitchen has been the Managing Editor of the publications of the International African Institute (IAI) hosted at SOAS University of London, UK since 2008. The publications she manages include the African studies journal Africa; the major reference work, Africa Bibliography, the Journal of African Cultural Studies, the International African Library monograph series; and the African Arguments book series and associated blog site. She is a Director of the African Books Collective.